DAC is away...
Length: 24.1 km (15.0 mi)
Ascent/Descent: 284/282m; Net Walking Time: 5 ¼ hours
Toughness: 5/10
Take the 09.57 Didcot Parkway Stopping Service from
Paddington (Ealing B’way 10.05), arrives Cholsey 11.16. This train will likely show on the board
as destination ‘Cholsey’.
Return trains from Goring & Streatley are on xx.18 and
xx.48 (change at Reading to shave off 24 mins). Buy a Cholsey return.
“This walk offers a fine combination of gentle Oxfordshire countryside,
wide grassy horse training gallops, a stretch of the Ridgeway with splendid
views from the Berkshire Downs, and a final saunter along the banks of the
Thames. Although the walk is fairly long, it has nothing too steep or
demanding.The main walk is best undertaken from mid spring to early autumn. With a
fairly late start to accommodate the early lunch stop at The Red Lion Blewbury.
The suggested tea stop is the Beetle and Wedge riverside restaurant at
Moulsford, a place with ‘Wind in the Willows’ and ‘Three Men in a Boat’
associations. There are also plenty of hostelries in Streatley and Goring at
the end of the walk.
Before starting the walk, devotees of Agatha Christie’s detective
stories might want to make a short detour to visit the novelist’s grave in the
churchyard of St Mary’s, Cholsey. To do this, follow the walk directions for
the first 180 metres till you reach the railway bridge, but instead of turning
left under the railway, turn right and follow the path for 700 metres as it
climbs up to the church. Afterwards, retrace your steps and pass under the
railway to re-join the directions.”
Lunch: The Red Lion in Blewbury (6.6 km/4.1
mi, food to 15.00), or – a little further along and to the left off the route
along London Road – The Blueberry (food to 14.30).
Tea: The Beetle & Wedge Boathouse (open all
day) en route plus lots of choice in Streatley and Goring-on-Thames (see
the pdf for details).
For summary, map, height profile,
some photos, walk directions and gpx/kml files click here. T=swc.49
1 comment:
7 walkers on the platform, with many other people getting off the train as well, one of which turned out to be a first-timer waiting for us at the station exit (all the way from Upminster). 1 other had arrived on an earlier train and was waiting outside, so n=9. All but me residents of parishes north of the river. The weather started sunny, then some clouds came in, and for most of the time there was a cold wind. Mercifully we were on the low part of the walk while walking into the wind. The group split up into subgroups quite quickly, with the faster lot (all of them picknickers) only being caught at Blewbury church. One of them later joined the 4 lunchers in the pub for a drink and then went on one of several self-designed shortcuts. We saw him again briefly on the top of the downs.
The pub: fine. A short menu, but everything appeared to be freshly prepared and was very tasty. The views: clear and far, what with the cold wind and passing clouds. Mud: nothing really, until the Thames Path, then a short stretch with some mud, that was it. Seasonal flowers: plenty snowdrops, especially in Blewbury village, but also on some wooded fringes; a few celandines. Birds: kites everywhere, of course; many swans.
Us lunchers lost one of thr group to walking a bit slower, and overtook one of the picknickers. In Goring, the Miller in Mansfield pub was shut, and as were walking further up the High Street, it appeared touch-and-go whether we'd make the 16.48 train. We took out that torturing uncertainty by turning right to The Catherine Wheel pub. The TV was showing some strange sporting spectacle of sorts: lots of burly men deliberately bumping into each other while carrying an oversized egg across a meadow, but we found a quiet corner for a thirst quencher.
17.18 train for 4, 1 other on the next one. The three fast walkers on an earlier one. w=sunny-then-cloudy-with-a-cold-wind
Group Cohesion Factor: 4/10.
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